Picnics are fantastic, but can be even better with the sun warming your face and ocean sounds in the background. With a little planning and preparation you can ensure that your picnic runs smoothly and that everyone enjoys the event. Here are a few tips and guidelines to remember.

• Line the bottom of your picnic basket with a towel or plastic to catch any spillage along the way.
• Bring your towel, swimsuit, sunscreen, insect repellent and extra clothing layers, along with your beach toys: flying disc, badminton set, snorkeling gear, surfboards, squirt guns, portable radio and so on.
• Picnic backpacks are good replacements for picnic baskets and, generally, great for lugging anything around.
• Remember wine: The Arnsiton Bay Chenin Blanc Chardonnay is the perfect picnic wine.
• Choose a scenic and wind-resistant venue for your outdoor meal. Try a place between two rock faces or farther from the water than you’d usually like to sit.
• Although beach parties are generally informal, you may send invitations a week or two in advance so guests can plan ahead.
• Plan a menu based on the amount of people and the load you can carry. Ask friends to bring certain items to lighten your responsibilities.
• Outfit yourself with the necessary equipment. A picnic basket filled with plates, utensils (don’t forget the bottle/can opener and corkscrew), cups, plastic containers and napkins is recommended. Pack trash bags to carry away any disposables.
• Pack your food. Place the heavier items on the bottom and lighter ones on the top.
• Remember to bring a hat and/or an umbrella to shade your perishables and your face from the hot sun. Also pack plenty of ice, which you’ll need to keep your food chilled in the sun.
• Toss in a blanket and/or folding chairs for your sitting and dining comfort.
• Bring torches or lanterns for nighttime picnics, or in case your daytime adventure carries on into the night.

Wind is your worst enemy on a beach picnic, so pay special attention to your choice of location and pick the least windy spot. You don’t want to fight with your blanket and keep sand out of your potato salad all day. If it’s too windy and cold and you’re already at the beach, make the most of a not-so-perfect situation: Look for a picnic table and reliable shelter.

Source: meals.com

At Arniston mother nature has ensured that you can ‘get away from it all’. Whether you enjoy sun tanning on unspoilt white beaches, watching whales breaching in the bay or more active pursuits such as hiking or exploring the countryside, Arniston has something to offer everyone.

Arniston Bay Wines are inspired by the sunny skies and pristine beaches of this quaint fishing village. This unpretentious wine is ideal for those carefree, alfresco dining or easy drinking wine occasions – anywhere, anytime.

The range has a multitude of offerings ranging from easy-drinking entry level wines to more sophisticated wines for discerning palates.

Accessible and unconventional, Arniston Bay wines have become the favourite among contemporary wine lovers. Arniston Bay provides a range of lifestyle wines for every occasion, whether socializing with friends or just enjoying a laid-back afternoon on your own.

The average employed adult works between 35-44 hours a week. That’s a huge amount of time to spend in the office, and yet the same people who change all their light bulbs to CFLs rarely give a second thought to getting their to-go coffee in a paper cup.

It only takes minutes to make your workspace a little more environmentally friendly. Here are a few tips to get you started.

1. Turn off the equipment when you leave for the day. Yes, even though Billy from accounting likes to stay late. An action as simple as turning off a 75-watt desktop monitor when you leave can save up to as much as 750 pounds (340kg) of carbon emissions a year. A power strip can make turning all the equipment off easier at the end of the day, including coffee makers and microwaves. Just make sure the printer is powered down properly, as printers need to seal their cartridges before shutting off.

2. Buy green materials. Switching to recycled printer paper could save thousands of innocent trees a year — and that’s not including paper towels, toilet paper, water cups and all the other products that make working in an office a comfortable enterprise. Many offices have already stopped buying the formerly ubiquitous bottled water. Talk to your office manager about stocking recycled printer paper or replacing the break room cookies with locally grown fruit. And nix printing out separate agendas for everyone at the morning meeting — slides or e-mailed agendas work just fine.

3. Green your duds. If you’re not lucky enough to work in an office where jeans and Chuck Taylors are de rigeur, you already know that great thing about office clothes is that they’re not supposed to be particularly trendy. Consider buying your crisply pressed trousers and blouses from thrift or consignment stores. Also, avoid dry-cleaning. Most dry cleaners use a chemical known as perchloroethylene, which is dangerous for both you and the environment. “Perc” is a known carcinogen that erodes the ozone layer and can easily contaminate groundwater. Most materials, like silk and wool, can be hand-washed. If you must go to a dry cleaner, look for one that uses green cleaning techniques, such as liquid carbon.

4. Telecommute. E-mailing, instant-messaging and videoconferencing have made working from home easier than ever before. Take advantage of it! Getting off the road even one day a week significantly reduces the amount of gasoline you burn, and you can even use the time you save on the trip to have an extra cup of coffee in your reusable ceramic mug. If telecommuting isn’t a possibility for you, consider asking your boss about instituting a commuter credit program for use on public transportation, or putting up a bulletin board for carpooling.

5. Reusable Cups. Avoid using styrofoam cups for anything. Use a mug for coffee and a water bottle for water. If you recycle at home, you can recycle, reduce and reuse at the office too.

6. Recycle Everything. You can recycle everything from your paper and plastics that might come from the vending machines at work, or paper that might otherwise get thrown away. Some companies will even take your old office furniture to recycle the desks and chairs. You could even donate the furniture to a school near by to not only help the community, but also increase the tax write off for the company. Here is a site to reference: Planet Green.

Arniston Bay Brand News

Arniston Bay believes in sustainable practices to protect our environment. This is reflected by initiatives like wine pouches (Astrapouch) and some Arniston Bay wine ranges which is being bottled in lighter weight glass.

South African wine companies dominated the results of the inaugural Drinks Business Green Awards in London.

Dr Paul Cluver, founder of Paul Cluver Wines, received arguably the highest accolade, winning the Lifetime Achievement Award, for his ongoing, visionary approach to conservation and exemplary environmental credentials. Dr. Cluver is also the Chairman of the company of wine people TM ‘s board of directors.

Inge Kotzé of the Biodiversity & Wine Initiative was awarded the Personality Award and Backsberg walked away with the Sustainability Award. Paul Cluver Wines and Stellar Organics were named runners-up in the Ethical Award category, giving South Africa a notable presence in four of the eight award results.

The Drinks Business Green Awards are designed to highlight and reward leadership on environment, sustainability and climate change, by drinks companies worldwide.

Commenting on the success, Su Birch, CEO of Wines of South Africa (WOSA) said: “This is a significant moment in the development of South Africa’s green credentials and we are delighted so many of our champions are being recognised for the substantial contributions they are making to the advancement of sustainable practice in the wine industry.  South Africa is a leader in production integrity and is committed to working in harmony with the environment to ensure long-term sustainable and profitable growth.”

Read more on wosa.co.za

Arniston Bay Brand News:

One of the leading South African brand in the UK, Arniston Bay,  has also introduced environmentally friendly initiatives. Arniston Bay introduced the environmentally friendly wine pouch and has also reduced the weight of wine bottles in some of our ranges.

We congratulate and salute our fellow South Africans , within the wine industry,  in their efforts to save our environment.

As South Africa continues to defy the global economic downturn by annually lifting the export of its packaged wines, it is making concerted moves to lower the weight of its wine bottles and so maintain its status as one of the world’s most eco-progressive winemaking nations and a leader in production integrity.

From this year, 750-ml wine bottles closed with screwcaps and weighing only 350 grams will be available to local wine producers. These compare with an average bottle weight of over 500 grams just four years ago.

“As we raise our export volumes of mostly bottled wines, we also increase our carbon emissions, so it becomes a delicate balancing act to enhance our sustainability profile while pushing up our output,” explained Su Birch, CEO of Wines of South Africa (WOSA), one of the leading champions of the country’s efforts to grow, make and market wines in a way that is least harmful to the environment.

She said the wine industry body, SA Wine Industry Information Systems (SAWIS), had calculated that for every 10 million litres of wine shipped in bulk, just over 107 jobs would be lost. “This figure does not even factor in the multiplier effect that such job losses bring. It has, for example, been reported that for every one of Unilever’s direct jobs in South Africa, another 22 workers depend on the company for at least a part of their livelihood. This is an indication of just how crucial each job is to a developing economy such as ours.”

While many players in the South African wine industry had actively supported bottle recycling programmes in recent years to reduce their impact on the environment, efforts were now being accelerated to focus on light-weight wine bottles as well.

According to Consol Glass, South Africa’s leading manufacturer of glass containers for the beverage industry, until 2006 the average weight of a 750ml non-returnable wine bottle was 516 grams, which by last year had dropped to 437 grams, a decrease of 15%. The new light-weight bottle will bring down the average still further.

She said the sturdy, light-weighted bottles, apart from strengthening South Africa’s reputation for environmentally responsible wine production, would also address the demands of leading retailers. Also keen to enhance their sustainability credentials, the multiple grocer chains were responding to high-profile media and consumer calls for more eco-friendly packaging.

Birch added that alternative wine packaging, such as the wine pouch offered by leading export brand, Arniston Bay, had also been welcomed in many export markets. South African bag-in-box wines were also very popular, particularly in Scandinavia.

Source: wine.co.za

There’s nothing better for your mind and soul than treading lightly on the planet. You’ll save money with some of these green tips, and your family’s physical and emotional health will also improve. When you apply these easy eco-friendly tips, you’ll see the psychologcial benefits of living green.

You can also harness positive energy by living green.

Tip #1: Eco-friendly Canvas Bags

When you’re deciding between paper and plastic at the grocery store, choose neither. Plastic takes 1,000 years to decompose and paper bags use 14 million trees a year. Instead, an easy eco-friendly tip is to use cloth grocery bags

Tip #2: Eco-Friendly Eating

Elizabeth Rogers wrote The Green Book, which contains dozens of easy eco-friendly tips. One of Rogers’ green tips is using one less napkin a day because paper napkins make a huge difference. Give up one paper napkin a day, and you’ll save a billion pounds of paper waste in landfills a year.

Tip #3: Natural Cleaning Products

“Clean doesn’t have a smell,” says one environmentally friendly family. When your bathroom is clean, it shouldn’t smell like pine or lemon. Switch from toxic to non-toxic, natural cleaning products.

Tip #4: Change Your Lightbubs

Most of the energy comes from coal-fired plants. A compact fluorescent light bulb is more energy-efficient and will save your money in the long run. CFL lightbulbs are energy smart; they’re more expensive, but they’ll last longer.

Tip #5: Daily Green Tips for Every Family

These easy eco-friendly tips are things you can do every day. The green tips come from the Squire family (a green family featured on the eco-friendly Oprah show).

• -Use the same cups over and over.
• -Don’t run the dishwasher unless it’s absolutely full.
• -Don’t throw clothing or shoes away, especially leather shoes.
• -Buy clothes at secondhand, consignment, or resale shops.
• -Put power strips on your tv to turn everything off when you go to bed or leave for the day. Vampire or standby power drains energy.

Arniston Bay Brand News

Arniston Bay believes in sustainable practices to protect our environment. This is reflected by initiatives like wine pouches (Astrapouch) and some Arniston Bay wine ranges which is being bottled in lighter weight glass.

Read more at Suite101

Want to make your holidays greener? Here is a list of ideas and suggestions of how you can do your bid for the environment over the festive season .

Make Your Own Wrapping Paper

Most mass-produced wrapping paper you find in stores is not recyclable and ends up in landfills. Instead, here’s a great chance to get creative. Wrap presents with old maps, the comics section of a newspaper, or children’s artwork. Or use a scarf, attractive dish towel, bandana, or some other useful cloth item. If every family wrapped just three gifts this way, it would save enough paper to cover 45,000 football fields.

Buy Energy-Saving Holiday Lights

Now you can decorate your house with LED lights that use 90 percent less energy than conventional holiday lights, and can save your family on electricity  bills during the holiday season.

Add Organic and Local Foods to Your Holiday Feast

Support local family farmers who grow sustainable meat and produce. Not only does it taste better, you’ll be doing your part for the planet too.

Get a Pesticide-Free Tree

Demand is on the rise for Christmas trees that are not covered in chemicals; some growers use 40 different pesticides, as well as chemical colorants. The good news is that there are now a number of tree-farms that sell pesticide-free trees.

Recycle Your Christmas Tree

Ninety-eight percent of Christmas trees were grown on farms, not in forests, so at least it’s not as if you’re cutting down an ancient tree. Each year, 10 million Christmas trees end up in the landfill. While your tree won’t fit in the recycling bin with your newspapers and bottles, you can recycle your tree: many cities offer programs to turn your tree to mulch or wood chips.

Donate Your Time or Money to an Environmental Group

Get into the holiday spirit by volunteering. There are countless ways to help improve your community – and the planet – from cleaning up a local river to helping inner city kids experience the outdoors for the first time.

Source: sierraclub.org

Christmas is about excess and extravagance – the glittering decorations, mountain of gifts at the bottom of the dusty, plastic tree and numerous dishes of traditional Christmas fare are all part of what makes Christmas so divine and decadent.

Christmas is also made special by the fact that we actually stop to spend time with one another, wrapping gifts, cooking up a storm and taking a moment to appreciate our relationships. You might think that becoming more aware of the environment means skimping on what makes Christmas special. But going green this Christmas can only make the festive season that much more memorable.

Get the kids involved while you’re at it and teach them to be less wasteful and more considerate of the environment. This is a perfect way to make a difference during what is considered a time of giving.

Real or fake tree?

To reduce your impact on the environment this year, consider what type of Christmas tree you’ll be putting up. Though a fake tree is convenient and easy, it’s also made of substances that are harmful to the environment and therefore has a heavy carbon footprint.

Rather, consider going to your local garden nursery to buy a tree or bush that you can plant in your garden after the festive season. Using an indigenous plant as your Christmas tree and planting it afterwards is a really great idea that will mean doing your bit for the continuation of our local flora.

If you must have the branch of a real pine tree, make sure you get hold of an ‘organically grown’ one and when you’re finished, dispose of it properly by taking it to your local waste management area.

Christmas tree décor

Popcorn tinsel, twig stars and marshmallow angels are a great way to decorate the tree and they’re a lot more eco-friendly than tinsel and mass-produced plastic baubles. Be creative and recycle bottle tops or press flowers from the garden and string them up for a beautiful effect.

Gifts

Gifts that are handcrafted are always that much more special and unique, and you’ll be surprised at the choice and ingenuity of handcrafted products. An electric guitar made out of jerry cans or a beautiful wooden biltong slicer are some examples of finely handcrafted products. Do your Christmas shopping at the flea market this year to reduce your consumption of mass-produced products.

Give the gift of time to your friends and family. Make up vouchers that your loved ones can use that will involve time spent with you. ‘A picnic at the park’ or ‘a day out shopping’ or even an offer to babysit so parents can have some time to do their own thing are all ways of showing your appreciation of those you love.

Edible gifts – a bag of beautifully decorated cookies or yummy brandy snaps festively wrapped are fantastic gifts that will please the sweet-toothed.

Coloured lights are a big part of what makes Christmas so festive and by using LED lights – which use significantly less electricity, yet last at least 100 times longer than a normal bulb – you can reduce your impact on the environment. In fact, if we were to change all of our home lighting to LED, we’d save a lot of electricity. LED festive lighting should be readily available at your nearest convenience store.

It’s a wrap

Recycle old Christmas cards by cutting up the fronts and adding these to recycled paper backs to give them a new lease on life.

Wrapping paper – try novel ideas like old newspaper and brown paper with a home-made decoration attached…

Lastly… recycle.

All the packaging that you’ll be opening this festive season will go to good use if it’s recycled. Set up your recycle bins now and encourage the whole family to get used to the idea ahead of the big feast. Remember: glass, plastic, cans and paper are all recyclable.

There is so much that you can do that will ensure that your home is environmentally-friendly for the holidays. Be part of the change that needs to happen to ensure that we preserve our earth for many, many festive seasons more.

Source: iafrica.com

Arniston Bay Brand News

Arniston Bay believes in sustainable practices to protect our environment. This is reflected by initiatives like wine pouches (Astrapouch) and the Arniston Bay Tides Range which is being bottled in lighter weight glass (nearly 100g less in weight than the previous bottle).

South Africa’s energy supply emergency may have made us worry that we were headed for the “Dark” Ages unless we got rid of every single appliance we own, but the truth is we can make an enormous difference just by making some easy changes to how we use our energy supply.

The kitchen, with all of its heating and cooling gadgets, is an excellent place to start.

Defrosting

It all starts with a bit of pre-planning. If you can think about what you want to cook for dinner the day before, you can take it out of the freezer and let it defrost in the fridge. An added advantage here is that you can spend the whole day dreaming up fabulous additions to the meal, and wow your family with your Nigella Lawson creativity.

Microwaves

Believe it or not, the most powerful energy-saving gadget in your kitchen is your humble microwave.

Microwaves use a lot of energy while in use, but cut down on your cooking time dramatically. Overall, microwaves use only about half as much energy as conventional stoves (as if you needed an excuse to buy those Woolies instant meals).

Ovens

When you are cooking in your oven, the big trick is to keep cooking time down. Try to avoid the urge to peek: every time you open the door about 20% of the heat inside is lost.

Also, don’t bother preheating the oven unless you are baking. When the food is nearly ready, turn the oven off and let the trapped heat do the rest. Make sure that air can circulate properly by keeping the oven racks clear and by resisting the compulsion to use foil. And finally, make sure that the seal on the oven door is intact and closes tightly, so that all of the heat stays in there.

Stoves

The most efficient (and quickest) way to boil water is in a kettle, but make sure that you only boil as much as you need. When using a stove, try to use pots and pans that completely cover the stove plate so that heat isn’t lost, where it serves no purpose other than to make your brow drip.

If you put lids on your pots, you will be able to turn the temperature a bit lower, and can turn it off completely a few minutes before your food is done. Another handy tip is that if your stovetop is dirty, it will absorb heat instead of reflecting it back to the cookware, so keep ‘em shiny.

Cookware

If you love stews and casseroles, it is worth investing in a pressure cooker; they can halve your cooking time and your energy use. When buying pots and pans, invest in sturdy metal with slightly concave bottoms (when they heat up, the metal expands and the bottom flattens out).

Buy copper-bottomed pans, but use ceramic in the oven. Throw out cookware when it becomes warped – you can save about 50% by ensuring that the base of your pan is in full contact with the element.

Fridges

It sits silently in the corner of your kitchen, looking innocent. Few would guess that your fridge is one of the biggest power guzzlers in your home.

Keep it from eating you out of house and home by adjusting its thermostat according to the season. To find out what your setting should be, place a thermostat in a jar of water and leave it in the fridge overnight. In the morning, it should read between 1 and 5 degrees Celsius. The fridge setting can usually be reduced in winter.

If your freezer is only half full, plug the gaps with empty milk bottles filled with water (when these freeze, they will help to keep the temperature down so your freezer doesn’t have to work so hard). Make sure that your freezer is defrosted at least twice a year.

Remember, energy efficiency is not about giving up the electricity you need; it’s about cutting down on what you are wasting. They may seem like insignificant savings, but if we all do our bit, little savings will soon accumulate into enormous savings. Your bank balance will see the effect, as will our economy, and more importantly, the environment our children will inherit.

Arniston Bay Brand News.

Arniston Bay only sources grapes from producers registered with the IPW, Integrated Production of Wine, who set strict criteria for producers to follow environmentally friendly farming methods.

Source: women24.com

Wine packaging and the environmental impact of the logistics surrounding the distribution are becoming a concern for British consumers.

A recent article by Tim Aiken (The Guardian)  indicates at a time when we’re supposed to be reducing our carbon footprints, an increasing number of producers are packaging their wines in disgracefully heavy bottles. It is mainly, but not exclusively, a Latin thing: the major culprits are Spain, Italy and Argentina, where anyone who makes an icon wine seems to come over all macho and purchase the thickest glass available.

The only wine that justifies a heavyweight bottle is Champagne / Sparkling wine where the wine style (and the potential for serious accident) dictates the choice of package.

The shipping of wine to the lucrative markets like the UK, USA and the East are putting pressure on the environment as heavier bottles creates a bigger carbon footprint.

Arniston Bay Brand News

Keeping with its policy of constantly innovating and reducing carbon footprint, the best-selling Arniston Bay brand – who also pioneered the eco-friendly wine pouch – is lightening up by introducing lightweight wine bottles.

Source: guardian.co.uk

What’s a green wine drinker to do? The cork versus screw cap battle is getting increasingly dirty. The issue of environmental credentials has entered the fight and that is yet to have closure – so to speak. So for the wine drinker with a green tinge, how do they stack up?

There is nothing more annoying or environmentally wasteful than tipping wine down the sink because cork taint has ruined it. Cork taint is the mouldy flavour that deadens the wine and is imparted by a 2,4,6-trichloroanisole, or TCA. This amazingly intense chemical can be detected in white wines in two parts per trillion.

How it comes about and how it gets into cork is one of the wine world’s most hotly debated issues but it seems that, like most of the problems besetting the human race, we brought it on ourselves. When moisture is present, common microscopic fungi such as aspergillus and penicillium convert chlorophenols that have ended up in the cork bark through the use of pesticides into TCA.

Cork companies claim their corks account for less than 1 per cent of tainted wines. Other more independent studies show figures of between 5 and 7 per cent. But if your definition of cork taint is any effect on the wine from the cork, then the figure is more like 10 to 12 per cent.

In defence of the cork, it is a sustainable industry. After bark is stripped off the trees, regrowth occurs which is ready to be harvested nine years later. A cork tree takes about 25 years to reach the right size and has a commercial life span of about 150 to 200 years or about 16 harvests. Cork is recyclable and biodegradable. But, that’s where the good green news ends.

After being stripped from the trees the cork is left to season. This is thought to be the time that the cork picks up the TCA. Travellers in Portugal are often bemused to see piles of cork sitting outside in the damp, and wonder if a better seasoning method might be preferable to applying chemicals later. Apparently cork that comes in contact with damp ground is used for flooring but a little TCA goes a long way. After seasoning the cork is disinfected, cut into shapes, washed with hydrogen peroxide and treated with ozone. Some are glued; some are even covered with plastic to protect the wine from the cork. The process is about the TCA, not the cork, and in a TCA-free world, cork would be a truly green industry.

A screw cap, on the other hand, is made from aluminium, which is very polluting to make. It has been estimated it takes as much electricity to produce one screw cap as running a TV for an hour. On the other hand, aluminium can be endlessly recycled. Of all the aluminium produced since 1886, two-thirds is apparently still out there as a Coke can, a 747 or a screw cap. Recycling aluminium saves on 95 per cent of the energy used to make new aluminium. So, in the scale of greenness, if you recycle your screw caps, you’re probably neck and neck with the cork pullers.

Arniston Bay Brand News:

When it comes to wine packaging the choice is much clearer for green consumers. Arniston Bay was one of the pioneers in pouch wine packaging. This revolutionary packaging has 80% less of a carbon footprint than wine bottles. It also has 90% less waste and takes up less space in a landfill than two glass bottles.

Another great thing is that wine can be stored up to one month after opening the pouch.

Source: smh.com.au

Though you might be surprised, natural cork wine stoppers are the best choice, primarily because harvesting the real stuff is an age-old practice that keeps the world’s relatively small population of cork oak trees, which can live for hundreds of years, alive.

These scattered pockets of cork oaks, mostly in Portugal and Spain, thrive in the hot, arid conditions of the southern Mediterranean, sheltering a wide array of biodiversity and helping to protect the soil from drying out.

In addition, some wildlife depends upon cork oak forests for their survival, including the Iberian lynx, the Barbary deer and the Egyptian mongoose, as well as rare birds such as the Imperial Iberian eagle and the black stork. As wine producers switch to other types of wine stoppers, the cork oak forests could be abandoned and the trees and the myriad plants and animals that depend on them could die out.

Plastic and Glass Wine Stoppers Gaining Popularity While 70 percent of wine bottles still contain natural cork stoppers, plastic and glass alternatives have been coming on strong in recent years. Indeed, more and more winemakers around the world are switching to alternatives, citing benefits including the avoidance of cork mold that can taint wine and the ability to more easily re-close opened bottles. In Australia and New Zealand the majority of wine producers use screw caps, mainly because they can make them cheaply instead of paying the relatively high price of importing the natural cork.

Cork: An Sustainable Resource with Economic Benefits But the increasing popularity around the world of screw caps and plastic stoppers has cork producers and environmentalists alike worried. In a recent report, “Cork Screwed,” the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) predicts that, at the current rate of adoption by wine producers, screw caps and other synthetic non-cork wine stoppers will dominate the market by 2015, calling into question the future of Mediterranean cork forests. In order to stem the tide, the organisation is supporting efforts by Portuguese cork producers to certify their practices as sustainable by the non-profit Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which promotes sustainable, economically-viable forestry practices around the world.

“Cork oak forests rank among the top biodiversity hotspots in the Mediterranean and in Europe. At the same time, they are the backbone of an entire economy,” says Nora Berrahmouni, coordinator of WWF’s Cork Oak Landscapes program. “FSC certification will reinforce the already environmentally friendly characteristics of the cork economy, leading to new opportunities in cork markets,” she adds.

If You Have a Choice, Choose Cork Wine Stoppers Public opinion will undoubtedly be what calls the day, and producers of plastic stoppers and metal screw caps are working hard to overcome the stigma associated with using their products, as most consumers still associate non-cork stoppers with cheap wine. For now, the world’s premiere winemakers in Europe are still bullish on the cork reserves in their own backyards. And wine enthusiasts everywhere can do their part to help the environment by choosing wines with natural cork stoppers.

Arniston Bay introduced another eco-friendly packaging alternative: the wine pouch – a world first.

The pouch offers an environmentally friendly solution to wine packaging, creating 80% less environmental impact and carbon footprint from cradle to grave than the equivalent volume in glass bottles, 90% less waste and takes up less space in a landfill than two glass bottles. Easy to transport and about 20 times lighter than a wine bottle, the pouch is perfect for picnics, parties and more. The pouch is also easily stored in the fridge and the wine stays fresh for up to one month once opened.

Source: environment.com

Pop into your local bottle shop and you’re overwhelmed with options. Red or white? Rosé or sparkling? Domestic or imported? And nowadays: traditional or eco-friendly?

Although our minds tend to wander to organic farming and sulfite-free winemaking when thinking about eco-friendly wine, it’s actually the transportation of the product that produces the largest carbon footprint. Wine writer and researcher Tyler Coleman recently collaborated with Pablo Paster, a sustainability metrics engineer, on a study measuring the varying factors at play within the wine industry. The results, published in the Journal of Wine, confirmed it. “The transportation and packaging elements in a lot of cases actually end up being the most influential in terms of the quantity of CO2 emissions,” said Coleman.

As with produce and other comestibles, Coleman supports “locavorism.” But not everyone has the joy of residing in wine country — and therein lies the reason why packaging plays an integral role in how the wine industry takes its toll on the planet. Fortunately, innovations in the world of packaging are breaking new ground, all in the spirit of promoting environmental integrity.

This wine pouch weighs about 20 times less than glass bottles. These pouches have an 80% lower carbon footprint and 90% less landfill waste compared with glass.

Source: thisisbrandx.com

Consumption, most analysts agree, has not been affected by the recession. If anything, Americans are drinking more wine than ever. But they are drinking cheaper wine and spending less money on it.

Another thing we might notice is fewer of those enormously heavy bottles so often used to convey that you have picked up (or tried to pick up) a wine of great status. Aside from the environmental cost of producing, shipping and disposing of these sorts of bottles, they are also more expensive. Will we see in the next few years a return to more sensible and less expensive bottles? We can only hope that the recession will add such benefits to the too-obvious consequences.

Apart from lighter bottles some producers are moving towards more eco-friendly packaging. Arniston Bay was the pioneers in creating the pouch.

This wine pouch weighs about 20 times less than glass bottles. And since the wine is made and packaged in South Africa and then shipped around the globe, the weight of the package makes a big difference to the eco-impact.

These pouches have an 80% lower carbon footprint and 90% less landfill waste compared with glass.

It seems that consumers are really taken by this value and eco-friendly wines. According to a recent Nielson Report,  Arniston Bay is the 5th fastest growing wine brand in the UK.

Sources:

thepour.blogs.nytimes.com And jlduran.blogspot.com

Living green really is easier than you think. If you make a few small changes it can have a great impact on the world around you. Here are some of the tips on green living…

Reduce, Re-use and Recycle.

Reduce. Be more responsible about how you use resources. Look at how you can use less water, less fuel and opt for products that use less packaging, they would probably be fresher and healthier anyway.

Re-use. Products often have more than one life, ice cream containers become lunchboxes and shoe boxes become material for school projects. Save money and time by finding new uses for used items you are have.

Recycle. Recycle your waste. Paper, plastics, cans and even glass can also be recycled. Use recycled paper and other products as much as possible at home and at work.

Starting at home

Conserve energy:

• Turn off lights in unused rooms.
• Unplug idle appliances.
• Replace traditional incandescent light bulbs with more energy-efficient compact fluorescentlamps.
• Switch out conventional hot water heaters in favour of solar hot water heaters.
• Use less hot water. It takes a lot of energy to heat water. Don’t fill the kettle to make one cup.
• Lower your geyser’s heating temperature.

Conserve water:

• Choose a shower instead of a bath.
• Turn off the tap when brushing your teeth.
• Repair leaks and dripping taps.
• Replace traditional showerheads and toilets with pressurised low-flow alternatives.
• Capture rainwater to irrigate the garden.

Insulate your home

Over 30 percent of your home’s heat escape through the roof. Install a layer of insulation and you can save on heating and cooling costs.

Other things you can do

Use a clothesline instead of a dryer whenever possible.

Put a lid on saucepans and pots. This will reduce the amount of energy needed to cook your food.

Maximise natural lighting. During the day, let the natural light in by opening curtains and blinds and closing them at dust to keep in heat.

Only run your dishwasher when there is a full load and use the energy-saving setting.

Plant a tree. A single tree will absorb one ton of carbon dioxide over its lifetime. Shade provided by trees can also reduce your air conditioning bill by 10 to 15 percent.

Use a clothesline instead of a dryer whenever possible.

Buy fresh foods instead of frozen ones. Frozen food uses 10 times more energy to produce.

Buy locally grown and produce foods. Buying locally will save fuel and reduce related emissions.

Buy eco-friendly products.

Walk or cycle to the corner store and back.

Be more responsible at work

• Choose laptops over desktops. Laptops consume five times less electricity.
• Support the implementation of your organisation’s environmental policy.
• Ensure that every aspect of your business operations has the least harmful effect on the environment.
• Recycle and use recycled paper.
• Turn off air-conditioners, computer and lights when you leave office.
• Maximise natural lighting. During the day, let the natural light in by opening your office blinds.
• Use tele-conferencing facilities. By utilising technology you can reduce your need to travel to meetings especially flying.
• Educate others and keep them aware about the environmental impact of their business operations.

Going green when travelling

• Reduce your car use. Use your car emissions by using public transport or car-pooling.
• Change your driving habits. You can save a lot of money and fuel by avoiding harsh braking and accelerating. Check your tyre pressure regularly and cut down on air-conditioning, open a window instead and get some fresh air.
• Park in shady areas when possible. This will minimize the los of fuel due to evaporation.
• Service your vehicle regularly. This will save you fuel cost and reduce emissions.
• Make sue that your tyres are properly inflated. Under-inflated tyres can cause fuel consumption to increase.

Source: iafrica.com

Long dismissed by certain purists, boxed wine is now getting a thumbs-up, of sorts, from the realm of science.

One type of cardboard packaging, according to a new study, is better than any cork or screw-cap when it comes to reducing an unpleasant “green” taste that strikes some wines.

This taste may come from one of two sources, said Gary J. Pickering, senior author of the study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. Either the wine was made from unripe grapes, or the grapes were infested with a species of ladybug.

For some reason the researchers can’t explain, wines stored in Tetra Pak-brand cartons had the lowest levels of these unwanted chemicals, called methoxypyrazines.

One possibility, Pickering said, is that the chemicals escape through the carton’s innermost layer, made of polyethylene, and then attach to an adjacent layer made of aluminum foil.

On the downside, the boxes were not so good at preserving wine from oxidation over long periods, said Pickering, a professor of wine science at Brock University in Ontario.

The best storage method for preventing that problem, the study found, was a bottle sealed with a screw-cap – which, like the cardboard carton, has some connoisseurs wrinkling their refined noses.

Pickering says perhaps there is some hybrid approach that will borrow the best elements of each wine-storage method.

The benefit of using cartons was a surprise to one winemaster, who works for a member of a trade group that helped fund the study.

“I personally am not a fan” of boxes, says Marc Bradshaw, of Pillitteri Estates Winery in Ontario. “I like to think of myself as more of a traditionalist.”

Yet even Bradshaw started using screw-caps on a few of the vineyard’s wines last year. The reaction?

“There was somewhat of a backlash,” he says.

Source: philly.com

It’s been hardly a decade since the long-maligned metal screw cap started appearing on quality wines, and during that short time, many wine enthusiasts have moved from snobbish rejection to closer analysis and on, for many, to enthusiastic acceptance of a wine bottle closure that cannot impart cork “taint.”

Now get ready for the next big thing: With consumers, manufacturers and governments world-wide looking much more closely at the “carbon footprint” of consumer goods in an age of environmental concerns and rising fuel costs, the glass wine bottle is coming under critical scrutiny.

“Glass is one of the heavier packaging materials, which has made wineries investigate alternatives,” reporter Jo Burzynska wrote last month in The New Zealand Herald. Just as wine makers Down Under were first to embrace alternative closures, this same region – around the world from export markets in North America and Europe – may take the lead in ditching glass in favour of lightweight wine containers.

South African wine producers were the industry leaders in this field and the wine pouch were one of the first environmentally friendly packaging solutions.

Developed at some cost by the company of wine peopleTM the pouch was a world first in terms of eco- friendly packaging.

The pouch offers an environmentally friendly solution to wine packaging, creating 80% less environmental impact from cradle to grave than the equivalent volume in glass bottles, 90% less waste and takes up less space in a landfill than two glass bottles. It is also 20 times lighter than a wine bottle and preserves the wine for up to a month once opened.

Sources: wineloverspage.com

Here are some useful ‘green tips’ to mark World Environment Week (1 – 5 June).

Truly “greening” yourself involves fundamental changes and some deep thinking about how you consume and pollute. But if you aren’t quite up for that yet, then ease into it with some low-key lifestyle tweaking. Here’s some easy tips for this week that you can do (or at least start doing) within five minutes of reading them:

Spring-clean your closet once a year

Somewhere, deep in the lizard brain of all of us, is an instinct to hold on to the most unbelievable pile of rubbish on the off chance that “it might come in useful some day”.

One of the best activities you can do for your personal space and your own peace of mind is to filter your closet once a year.

By all means put aside your school rugby top, the bow tie from your Matric dance and your lucky kilt, but anything else that you haven’t worn in the last year can safely be given away with no more than a moment’s panic.

Keeping your cupboards filled with piles of unused items isn’t only wasteful, it’s selfish too. And if you’re really struggling with the emotional side of things, sell your unwanted stuff for a nominal amount and buy something tangible like a new tree with the cash. – Simon Gear

Roll up your sleeves

An excellent remedy for despair about the global environmental crisis is to get your hands dirty on the frontlines, where you can see the benefit of your direct actions: chopping through an alien stem, cleaning an oil-slicked feather.

The mass whale stranding this weekend at Kommetjie showed that South Africans are crazy about nature and wildlife, and only too willing to put their time and energies into trying to save it. But if you’re going to volunteer, make sure you’re actually helping effectively and not hindering relief efforts such as this.

Instead of leaping into well-meaning but potentially counter-productive action when something big happens, rather join a volunteer organisation that appeals to you before the time, and be prepared to learn the ropes so that you’re best placed and suitably skilled to make a real difference.

We have a wealth of green-hued volunteer initiatives in this country to choose from. Here are a few ideas:

• National Sea Rescue Institute (stations along the coast, and some inland waters): for hands-on rescuing of people and marine animals, you need to undergo rigorous 6-month training.
• Volunteer Wildfire Services (Cape Town and environs): again, active duty on the fireline requires 6 months of skills training and physical fitness.
• Honorary Rangers, South African National Parks: senior and junior rangers contribute to conservation efforts in national parks nationwide.

Source: health24.com

South Africa’s energy supply emergency may have made us worry that we were headed for the “Dark” Ages unless we got rid of every single appliance we own, but the truth is we can make an enormous difference just by making some easy changes to how we use our energy supply.

The kitchen, with all of its heating and cooling gadgets, is an excellent place to start.

Defrosting

It all starts with a bit of pre-planning. If you can think about what you want to cook for dinner the day before, you can take it out of the freezer and let it defrost in the fridge. An added advantage here is that you can spend the whole day dreaming up fabulous additions to the meal, and wow your family with your Nigella Lawson creativity.

Microwaves

Believe it or not, the most powerful energy-saving gadget in your kitchen is your humble microwave.

Microwaves use a lot of energy while in use, but cut down on your cooking time dramatically. Overall, microwaves use only about half as much energy as conventional stoves (as if you needed an excuse to buy those Woolies instant meals).

Ovens

When you are cooking in your oven, the big trick is to keep cooking time down. Try to avoid the urge to peek: every time you open the door about 20% of the heat inside is lost.

Also, don’t bother preheating the oven unless you are baking. When the food is nearly ready, turn the oven off and let the trapped heat do the rest. Make sure that air can circulate properly by keeping the oven racks clear and by resisting the compulsion to use foil. And finally, make sure that the seal on the oven door is intact and closes tightly, so that all of the heat stays in there.

Stoves

The most efficient (and quickest) way to boil water is in a kettle, but make sure that you only boil as much as you need. When using a stove, try to use pots and pans that completely cover the stove plate so that heat isn’t lost, where it serves no purpose other than to make your brow drip.

If you put lids on your pots, you will be able to turn the temperature a bit lower, and can turn it off completely a few minutes before your food is done. Another handy tip is that if your stovetop is dirty, it will absorb heat instead of reflecting it back to the cookware, so keep ‘em shiny.

Cookware

If you love stews and casseroles, it is worth investing in a pressure cooker; they can halve your cooking time and your energy use. When buying pots and pans, invest in sturdy metal with slightly concave bottoms (when they heat up, the metal expands and the bottom flattens out).

Buy copper-bottomed pans, but use ceramic in the oven. Throw out cookware when it becomes warped – you can save about 50% by ensuring that the base of your pan is in full contact with the element.

Fridges

It sits silently in the corner of your kitchen, looking innocent. Few would guess that your fridge is one of the biggest power guzzlers in your home.

Keep it from eating you out of house and home by adjusting its thermostat according to the season. To find out what your setting should be, place a thermostat in a jar of water and leave it in the fridge overnight. In the morning, it should read between 1 and 5 degrees Celsius. The fridge setting can usually be reduced in winter.

If your freezer is only half full, plug the gaps with empty milk bottles filled with water (when these freeze, they will help to keep the temperature down so your freezer doesn’t have to work so hard). Make sure that your freezer is defrosted at least twice a year.

Ensure that the cold stays inside your fridge by checking the seal regularly. Replace if torn, and clean if it becomes caked in food. Don’t place your fridge near the stove, dishwasher, or in direct sunlight (it will have to work twice as hard) – and make sure that air can circulate around it properly. One large refrigerator is cheaper to run than two small ones. And finally, if you are still holding onto your big, square 1982 model, replacing it with a modern one is one of the single best ways you can save electricity: old fridges are the worst energy gluttons.

Remember, energy efficiency is not about giving up the electricity you need; it’s about cutting down on what you are wasting. They may seem like insignificant savings, but if we all do our bit, little savings will soon accumulate into enormous savings. Your bank balance will see the effect, as will our economy, and more importantly, the environment our children will inherit.

Source: www.women24.com

When it comes to questions about the environment there are three types of people out there. First off there are the complete eco-ignoramuses, who have no clue and couldn’t be bothered about the dire straits our planet is in. They either haven’t even heard of global warming or think it’s a good thing. More sunny days at the beach, yippee! Seeing that you’ve decided to read this article, you’re unlikely to be one of them, but on the unlikely chance that you are, please read on. It’ll do you no harm, we promise.

Second on our list are the enviro-theoreticians. They are the ones who can tell you that scientists have just discovered a new greenhouse gas called sulfuryl fluoride which is 4 800 times more potent than carbon dioxide, but who forget to bring their own shopping bags to the supermarket EVERY TIME.

And then there are the eco-practitioners, who buy organic veggies, recycle their newspapers and have replaced all of their old-fashioned light bulbs with energy efficient ones, but who’re still not quite sure how exactly climate change, the hole in the ozone layer and weapons of mass destruction all fit together…

Quite clearly what is required is for all of these different types of people to get together and have a good chat. The ignoramuses need to get with the programme and the theoreticians and practitioners should start taking leaves out of each other’s books. Whatever type you are, you’ve come to the right place. For starters you can find out why every little green contribution makes a difference and once you’re convinced, you can find out how to start making your lifestyle more planet friendly here and here.

Now test your eco-prowess with our fabulous themed enviro-quizzes:

• Green energy
• How green is your food?
• Water saving
• Getting from A to Z without costing the Earth
• Recycling

The eco watchwords of the day are “baby steps” – every little bit counts. Remember that every time you add to your green repertoire you soften your environmental impact.

If you’re looking for new ways to conserve energy in the kitchen, read this, for more general advice on electricity-saving appliances, go here and if you’re keen to green your office, try these tips.

Are you a greenie? Share some tips with us in the comments section below.

Source: women24.com

Prince Charles has converted his vintage Aston Martin car, given to him on his 21st birthday by Queen Elizabeth II, to run on English wine, a spokesperson said.

The move, part of the prince’s green drive to reduce by 12.5% his carbon footprint up to 2012, was announced in a recent report released on the royal’s activities. And according to the report, the prince, an keen advocate of the environment, has already reduced his carbon emissions by 18%.

Sir Michael Peat, the prince’s chief aide, called the conversion a “symbolic role” saying: “Charles only travelled two or three hundred miles a year in the Aston but he wanted it to be environmentally friendly. It just happened that our bioethanol supplier makes the fuel from surplus English wine.”

The classic 1970 Aston Martin Volante convertible is usually only driven in the summer, having an annual mileage of around 300 miles (480 km).

The prince’s other cars, including Jaguars, Audis and Range Rovers, are entirely powered by cooking oil.

The annual report on the Prince of Wales said: “When their Royal Highnesses are travelling in the UK the aim is to reduce emissions through greater use of cars, trains, and turbo-prop aircraft. In accepting and arranging engagements more consideration is being given to reducing travel distances.”

The prince’s carbon emissions do not include the highly criticized Royal Air Force flights taken by his son Prince William at the British taxpayers’ expense. According to The Guardian newspaper, William flew a military helicopter to his girlfriend’s home, his father’s house, as well as to a stag party in southern England.

The Ministry of Defense said all flights were part of the prince’s training, while admitting that there may have been an element of “naivety” in their planning.

 Source: portalino.it

South Africa’s wine industry was ranked just one place down from US President Barack Obama when it comes to building public awareness of environmental issues.

WOSA made the Top 5 on the 2009 Green List compelled by the UK magazine, The Drinks Business. This Green List lists the 50 most influential drinks companies, individuals and organisations with “a strong environmental influence over many consumers”.

The first three places were taken by multinational retail giants Tesco, Carrefour and Wal-Mart, with President Obama in fourth place. WOSA’s recognition was due to their involvement with the Biodiversity and Wine Initiative (BWI), a project jointly managed by WWF and the Botanical Society of South Africa and funded by The Green Trust, a partnership between WWF and Nedbank.

The Drinks Business praised WOSA for its involvement in BWI, a strategic partnership between the wine industry and the conservation sector, its adoption of biodiversity guidelines and its focus on environmental impact studies.

Sue Birch, Chief Executive of WOSA, said: “That we are in the company of the world’s most powerful retail chains, who are able to exercise significant influence, as well as the new and highly popular president of the United States, makes us feel extremely proud!”

She lauded the role of BWI in promoting and protecting biodiversity within the Cape Floral Kingdom, where over 95 per cent of the country’s wines originate. “In less than four years, 140 local wine producers, under the auspices of BWI, have set aside 112,550 hectares for long-term conservation. This is significantly more than the total national vineyard footprint of 102,000 hectares.”

Well done WOSA. It is a great accomplishment for the SA wine industry and I hope the whole industry follows by supporting and creating similar environmental efforts. 

Source: panda.org

Here’s 10 simple steps to make our offices more eco-friendly

On a global scale, carbon emissions recorded for the IT industry equal those of the aviation industry. That’s not to say your home computer powers up like a jet, but it does sound a warning bell.

Because, even if you only have one, you should know that it takes around 1.8 tonnes of chemicals, fossil fuels and water to manufacture every average PC. In turn, the unit generates 100 kilograms of carbon dioxide per year and is generally obsolete after three.

When it’s time for an upgrade, worldwide around 31 million PCs are discarded with common household rubbish every year, contributing to the saturation of landfills. But it’s not only computers that leave a scar on the planet – CDs and DVDs, paper, staples and batteries are all home-office tools used without second thought.

What if you used a portable flash drive to store and transport information? Not only would you cut back on printing paper, you’d throw away fewer discs. And if you swapped staples for reusable paper clips? Or printed on both sides of the paper?

So, cast an eye around your home office and see which of these tips could work for you. At the very least, you’d cut down your stationery consumption (read bill), thus making your office, and the world, a greener space.

- When scouting for office furniture look for items made from reclaimed materials (for example, recycled railway sleepers, plastic or metal) or wood that’s been grown and harvested sustainably. Make a point of choosing furniture that’s durable.

- Staple less. Friends of the Earth, an international environmental organisation, calculated that, if each person on the planet used one less staple a day, we’d save as much as 120 tonnes of steel each year. Be conscious of what you consume and how much, from pens to glue sticks, paperclips and rubber bands. It all adds up.

- Make your next monitor a flatscreen model. Not only will it free up desk space, a LCD monitor uses less than half the energy of its cathode-ray tube counterpart. When powering down, remember to switch off the monitor as it often draws more energy than the hard drive itself uses.

- Computers use substantially less energy while computing than they do when idling – the energy you save by turning off your computer overnight could laser print two reams of A4 paper. Consider getting a laptop, which can use as little as 10 percent of the electricity a PC needs (and will come in handy during bouts of load shedding). When not in use, switch off all computer-related gadgets, including your printer, fax machine, scanner, copier and speakers. Turn them off at the wall – even on stand-by they still require significant quantities of power.

- Storing documents in electronic format makes them easier and faster to search, and cuts down on your paper consumption. If your computer’s memory isn’t very big, discuss the possibilities of an external hard drive with your computer consultant.

- Use environmentally-friendly supplies. Recycled pencils and a sustainable bamboo computer mouse may be hard to find on the local front but you can easily opt for envelopes made from recycled paper. If you regularly receive and send items by post, reuse the boxes, padded envelopes, bubble wrap and other packing materials. And if you have to have that bamboo mouse, order it online from www.thegreenoffice.com. (and make sure you offset the CO2 emissions it will take to get it here).

- Using a solar-powered calculator will cut down substantially on the number of batteries that end up in landfills. If you do need battery-operated office tools, rather use rechargeable batteries that are available at most supermarkets, stationers and hardware stores.

- Pause before you print and you could cut carbon emissions by 2.5 kilograms for every kilogram of paper you save. When you do print, use both sides of every page – it’s called duplex printing and most modern printers can be easily set to do it. If you are in the market for a new printer, choose the inkjet variety, which is generally more energy efficient than the equivalent laser printer. Unless you require high quality print-outs, opt for the draft mode, which uses less ink. Also recycle printer cartridges by returning them to the shop when getting new ones.

- Use ecofriendly printer paper. Read the labels and look for chlorine-free paper produced mostly from recycled paper and a smaller percentage of sustainably grown fibres. Paper represents about 70 percent of office waste, so dodge the debris and read emails on screen. Waste paper that hasn’t been used for jotting down notes and messages should be taken to a recycling depot. Visit www.paperpickup.co.za. to find a paper bank near you.

- Send virtual faxes. There’s a range of software programs that allow you to send documents from your PC to a fax machine, and receive faxes from either source as an email. Alternatively, if you have a scanner, simply scan documents and send them as email attachments.

Source: women24.com

Sign up for Earth Hour 2009 and become part of what could be the single most powerful demonstration of global solidarity on any matter in the history of the planet.

On Saturday 28 March 2009, at 20:30, millions of people worldwide will switch off their lights to make a statement of concern about the future of our planet as part of Earth Hour 2009, an event led by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007, when more than 2.2 million families and businesses turned off their lights. One year later, Earth Hour reached 370 cities and towns in more than 35 countries across 18 time zones.

Earth Hour 2009 hopes to reach one billion people in 1 000 cities worldwide.

Already 900 cities have agreed to take part including Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, London, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Sydney, Rome and Dubai with more signing up every day.

Participating in Earth Hour is easy, fun and free.

All you need to do is sign up on Earth Hour or SMS your postal code to 34017 (R2 per SMS) to register your support for action on climate change.

Your name will form part of a global petition to world leaders, challenging them to reach a fair and effective climate change agreement when they meet in Copenhagen at the end of the year.

Spread the message to colleagues, friends and family and encourage them to spread the word too.

And, remember to switch off the lights of your home for one hour on 28 March 2009 at 20:30.

Make your name count. It will mean the world.

For more information, earthhour.org.za

Source: news24.com

It’s not easy being green. Just ask some of our purportedly environmentally conscious celebrities like Al Gore and Leonardo DiCaprio. Despite their best efforts to raise awareness, even they have a hard time leading by example.

See which of your favorite stars have been called out as environmental hypocrites.

ivillage.com

With all the buzz surrounding environmental issues lately, celebrities are taking a strong stance on protecting Mother Nature. Celebs like Leonardo DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz are making headlines for their commitment to eco-friendly causes, from solar roof panels to organic fashion lines.

Did you know that Charlize Theron opts for an EcoLimo when stepping out to red-carpet events? Or that Brad Pitt is an active member of Global Green USA? Green up by matching the following celebs to their most notable environmental efforts.

Instructions: Match the photos of the celebrities to their eco-conscious efforts as fast as you can.

Celebrities Go Green: Hear from TV stars who are taking steps to reduce their carbon footprint

Source: ivillage.com

There’s no use denying it. Short of travelling by Space Shuttle, flying is the worst way of getting from A to B as far as contributing to climate change is concerned. Although there is considerable debate about exactly how much of humanity’s global greenhouse gas output is due to airplanes, the aviation industry is widely acknowledged to be the fastest growing emitter.

So what’s an environmentally conscious traveler to do? Of course you do all you can to keep your carbon footprint in check, but often there are just no viable alternatives to hopping on a plane. Trekking overland from Jozi to London may be an awesome adventure, but a practical way of getting to your sister’s wedding on time it is not. Durban to Dubai by public transport anyone?

Don’t despair if your next business trip can’t wait for the invention of a super-efficient jet powered by sunflower oil. While the holy grail of truly carbon neutral air travel may well remain elusive for many years, there are a number of practical, cheap and easy things you can do to keep your carbon wingspan down to an ethically-defensible size.

Travel Light

Every kilogram of extra weight you add to your luggage requires a little bit more jet fuel. That might sound trivial, but it all adds up. So take that third pair of shoes and your dumbbells out of your suitcase now!

Fly Non-stop and Direct

Take-off and landing are the most fuel-intense bits of any plane trip and account for a large proportion of total emissions. Avoid stop-overs, detours and connecting flights wherever possible. Always choose the most direct route – the longer the flight, the more fuel is burned.

Travel Smart

Use teleconferencing and other modern communication tools to avoid unnecessary business trips. When you do have to fly for work, schedule meetings to optimize your travel time – is it really necessary to fly to Cape Town twice in the same week?

Fly Economy

More legroom in business class translates into fewer seats and more fuel used – and thus more greenhouse gasses emitted – per passenger. Carbon emissions for business class flights have been estimated to be as much as twice those for economy class.

Pick Your Airline

If you have the option, try to choose an airline with a modern fleet of planes – airplane fuel efficiency has improved significantly in recent years. Choose an airline with a good “on-time” record, especially for international flights. Delays are often the result of waiting planes circling above airports burning fuel unnecessarily all as a result of poor planning.

Offset Your Flying Miles

There are numerous organizations that allow you to offset your air travel carbon emissions online. The process is easy and quick: you calculate the amount of greenhouse gasses you are responsible for and pay money towards a variety of climate protection projects around the globe. The trend these days is away from tree-planting projects and towards schemes developing renewable energy sources, environmentally sustainable business solutions and energy efficiency. Next time you fly, why not repay your carbon sins through one of these reputable non-profit organizations?

Why not visit these sites for more information:

myclimate.org

atmosfair

Climate Friendly

Article was written by: Andreas Späth

Source: gotravel24.com

South Africa’s wine industry association and newly elected USA President Barack Obama are seen as highly influential in building public awareness about environmental issues, says UK magazine Drinks Business. 

 Both Wines of South Africa (WOSA) and President Obama were listed in the 2009 Green List of the 50 most influential drinks companies, individuals and organisations who have made caring for the environment a priority.

Published by Drinks Business – a specialist UK beverage magazine – WOSA was listed fifth in the Green List, just behind President Obama in fourth.

This year’s lists highlights how “even in the midst of an economic crisis, the drinks industry continues to prick consciences and have a strong environmental influence over many consumers.”

The first three positions on the Green List were taken by multinational retail giants, Tesco, Carrefour and Wal-Mart respectively.

The Drinks Business praised WOSA for its involvement in a strategic partnership between the wine industry and the conservation sector. The partnership, known as the Biodiversity and Wine Initiative (BWI), has helped to minimise the loss of threatened natural habitat.

“[WOSA has] contributed to sustainable wine production through the adoption of biodiversity guidelines,” said the magazine adding further praise for WOSA’s focus on environmental impact studies, preparation of soil and the use of recyclable packaging.

Sue Birch, CEO of WOSA, said the organisation was proud to have its eco-sustainable wine standards recognised as among the most progressive in the world.  “That we are in the company of the world’s most powerful retail chains, who are able to exercise significant influence, as well as the new and highly popular president of the United States, makes us feel extremely proud!”

She also lauded the role of the BWI in promoting and protecting biodiversity within the Cape Floral Kingdom, where over 95% of the country’s wines originate. “In less than four years, local wine producers, under the auspices of the BWI, have set aside 112 550 hectares for long-term conservation – significantly more than the total national vineyard of 102 000 hectares.”

Source: sagoodnews.co.za

Arniston Bay is one of the pioneers in pouch wine packaging. It seems that the Americans are also starting to see the advantages of wines in pouches.

A recent opinion article in the New York Times suggests that US consumers must change their options of non-bottled wines. This suggestion is based on the environmental benefits considering the carbon footprint created by trucking around glass bottles.

The vast majority (90% +) of American wine is produced on the West Coast, but then shipped to the East Coast where the majority of wine consumers live. This trucking process generates a tremendous amount of carbon-dioxide emissions. It is estimated that switching to lighter boxed wine for the 97% of wines that are made to be consumed within a year would reduce greenhouse gases by roughly 2 million tons or the equivalent of 400,000 cars.

Along with environmental advantages of boxed and pouched wine, it is also more economical from a cost per-glass perspective because of volume and preservation.

Arniston Bay was one of the first brands that launched the wine in pouch bag. These bags has an 80% lower carbon footprint and 90% less waste and landfill than regular glass wine bottles.

Source: seriousaboutwine